Boston compensation mission brings Feinberg back to home turf

May 07, 2013|Reuters

* Feinberg oversaw victim funds after 9/11, Aurora shootings

* Lessons from other catastrophes: get money out fast

* Should rich and poor victims get the same pay-outs?

By Ross Kerber

BOSTON, May 7 (Reuters) - Kenneth Feinberg, America'sSolomon of catastrophe compensation, spoke in Boston on Tuesdayon how the city can navigate what he called the biblical choicesin getting money to victims of the April 15 bombings.

He also tamped down hopes of big payouts.

"There's not enough money here to pay everybody," theWashington mediation attorney told an open meeting held at theBoston Public Library, just steps from the site of the first oftwo blasts that killed three people and injured 264. "Lower yourexpectations," he said.

Local leaders so far have collected $28 million in cash and pledges for The One Fund Boston and tapped Feinberg - a nativeof nearby Brockton - as its administrator. Feinberg now faceswhat he said were "choices that come, I think, right out of theBible in determining who gets what."

Drawing on his experience overseeing funds that compensatedvictims after events such as the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and thetheater shootings in Aurora, Colorado, Feinberg ran a gatheringthat was part therapy session and part wealth-managementseminar.

His main goal was getting input on how he should resolvedifficult questions such as whether One Fund will pay benefitsto victims who require mental healthcare - as the Aurora funddid not - or whether to give rich and poor victims the samebenefits. Means-testing could provide more fairness, but couldalso take more time, Feinberg said.

Standing outside the library along Boylston Streetafterward, Feinberg said running the other funds taught him tofocus on outcomes.

"You have to hold these Town Hall meetings, you have to tellpeople what you can do and what you can't do," he said. "Peoplewant certainty."

Feinberg has already proposed that payments be prioritizedfor the families of the dead and the most seriously injured.Like other professionals, he is donating his time. He saidJetBlue Airways Corp Chief Executive Officer DavidBarger offered him and a few staffers free trips to Boston. Bigcorporate donors so far include Manulife Financial Corp's John Hancock unit and AT&T Inc.

Feinberg plans to distribute all the money in the fund byJune 30, a goal set when he was asked by Massachusetts GovernorDeval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to take the job.

A fund organizer, Karen Kaplan, president of the HillHolliday advertising firm in Boston, said One Fund was set up inpart to avoid the compensation confusion that sprang up afterthe shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, in December that left 20students and six teachers dead.

Newtown officials identified more than 60 funds raisingmoney on behalf of victims or projects after the tragedy.Families of some mass-shooting victims worried some funds wereholding on to money unnecessarily and suggested creating anational fund for future incidents.

Some of those proponents praised Feinberg's Boston efforts.

"It's exactly what should happen," said Scott Larimer, whoseson John died in Aurora. "You're going to use Ken Feinberg'sformula for distribution. It's the money donated by the Americanpublic for sympathy and compassion and here's your money."

Tuesday's meeting in Boston drew a number of bombing victimswho thanked Feinberg for his work.

One was Wayne Gilchist of Cambridge, who showed his twoheavily bandaged wrists and hands at the meeting. One wasinjured during the bombing and the second in a seizure he saidwas brought on by psychological distress after the attack.

"It's putting so much stress on me," he said. One hand wasbroken "because of what I saw right outside this door."

Later he repeated one of Feinberg's points, that fundsshould be distributed quickly.

"It's got to be in a fast manner," he said. "The familiesare suffering. I'm suffering."

Also at the meeting was Bentley Mattier, who said he flewback to Boston from Atlanta to help his family after an auntlost her leg in the attack. Like Gilchrist, he said sooner isbetter.

"I'd like for my aunt to be compensated immediately. Thosehospital bills are coming in immediately," he added.